I'd Know You Through Anything
by inkcrane
Summary: Tumblr prompt. FTL. Someone steals Red's cloak just before a full moon and she devastates the palace. Emma stops her. Red Swan


**NOTES: ** Prompt! I am fussy about my werewolves, so Red's always two-legged and over seven feet tall when I write her as a death beast, just for clarification. (I blame White Wolf.) Angstyish yeah.

Emma couldn't do it. Every time she notched the silver-tipped arrow to her bow, her chest tightened and her heart fluttered until she lowered it. When the dark brown werewolf backhanded her father out of the way like a doll, she drew the arrow back and swore she'd just hit her hip or the back of her shoulder, somewhere that wouldn't cause lasting damage but would at least down the beast for long enough to lock her somewhere safe. Even as James struggled to stand again, she couldn't do it. He raised his sword to throw it, but the wolf stopped him when she heaved a carriage off the ground by one of the axles and flung it at him like a discus thrower might toss something. The man dropped his sword and dove out of the way as the object crashed against the stone wall of the courtyard and shattered into pieces. Apparently, even the idea of her father getting hurt couldn't move the blonde.

Snow had always been a good shot, and after knowing Red for so long, she knew there would be no hard feelings if she needed to do something to stop a rampage. Therefore, when a pair of arrows appeared in the werewolf's back, Emma knew they came from her mother's bow even before she saw the dark haired queen appear at the opposite end of the courtyard. Once again, Emma raised her bow and peered down the shaft, aiming for the creature's back. Just one silver tipped arrow. Just one and she'd drop. She'd hurt and it would burn, but she'd fall. She'd hurt and burn and... The blonde lowered her bow again. She'd cry, that's what she'd do. The instant they located that red cloak and tossed it over her, she'd wake up and cry over her actions, and then incredible pain would sustain the sobbing. Emma couldn't do it. The werewolf launched herself at Snow White, who stuck another arrow in her side. With a pained roar, Red wrenched out all three arrows and threw them at her attacker before clubbing her away with a stray timber from something she'd destroyed earlier. Apparently, even the idea of her mother getting hurt couldn't move the blonde.

Shit . Emma manipulated the arrow she'd intended to fire with her fingers so she could carry it in the same position as her bow and she sprinted across the rampart towards the keep tower. This all started earlier this evening when Red ran to her with tears in her eyes and panic in her voice as she screamed that she couldn't find her cloak. She could not resist the full moon and it never failed to turn a normally sweet, congenial woman into a fearsome, seven-foot tower of raw power and rage. Emma told her to go to her room and stay there as she ran through the castle, trying to retrace the woman's footsteps for the day to locate the lost cloak. The brunette commonly acted childishly or recklessly, but she clung to that cloak like a lifeline; it never left her sight. Emma figured someone who had it out for her family took it knowing full well Red's capabilities when unrestrained. Wearing the hood made her ornery, anxious, and occasionally depressed during the wolf's time, but she knew the brunette would take those feelings to awakening surrounded by devistation any day. When it happened, she heard the roar from across the castle grounds and instantly stopped her hunt for the elusive cloak. If someone took it, after all, she'd need more time to search for it and at the moment, restraining Red took priority.

Locating the beast didn't take much effort. Red had completely ripped the double doors to her room off the hinges and tossed them down the hallway, effectively crushing a hapless servant in the process. Next, she ripped through a pair of guards and tossed the bodies against the wall, knocking enormous paintings down in the process. Mangled doors, furniture, and people marked her trail until Emma found her in the courtyard with her parents, who were by far the most well equipped to deal with this variety of nightmare. Snow had pressed a quiver of silver-headed arrows and a bow into Emma's arms and told her to take to the ramparts and shoot the werewolf if she and James couldn't still her. The queen hadn't counted on her daughter's heart getting in the way, however.

Now Emma stood in the courtyard, chest heaving from the way she practically threw herself down the spiral stairs of the keep to reach ground level. She tried one last time to force herself to bury an arrow into Red's side, but she knew before she pulled back that it would be futile. The wolf ignored her and advanced on a dazed, injured Snow as though she were a deer. The dark haired woman screamed her name repeatedly as she desperately tried to remind the werewolf that they were friends, but the words were in vain. The blonde threw down her weapon in frustration and jogged a few paces closer to her mother and the beast that leaned over her.

"Red, STOP!" Emma bellowed. She hadn't expected it to work, but the werewolf's dark ears swiveled backwards and her head turned. Emma, James, and Snow couldn't hide their surprise as the canine left her position over the queen and bounded to the blonde on all fours. Emma recoiled slightly, expecting the worst, but instead all she felt was a puff of warm air against her face that toyed with stray strands of gold hair. Emma lifted her eyes to meet gold ones inches from her face, and a moment later, the werewolf circled her closely in a fashion similar to a cat greeting its favorite person. The woman's parents stared wide-eyed at the wolf's apparent recognition of her lover, even if it manifested in an entirely primal way. The two tried to approach, but the wolf pinned her ears and bared her teeth in response, and both backed away immediately. Red's hackles were raised and she leaned closer to the much smaller blonde. She saw the man and woman in the courtyard as a threat to her and her lover, Emma realized. With a shaking hand, the blonde ran her fingers through the werewolf's thick, dark fur. She could hardly wrap her brain around this entire experience.

"H-hey, Red," she stammered, and the creature huffed, content. This was good. "Why don't we go... um." Words sailed through Emma's head without allowing her the chance to grasp any of them, and vaguely she wondered if the werewolf even understood her in a way other than body language. She could read the gold eyes like the more familiar green ones, however, and when Emma took a tentative step towards the palace, some part of her knew the werewolf would follow. Terrified, both Snow White and Prince James watched, rooted to the ground, as their daughter apparently kept the monster tamed with a few soothing words and a stroke of her hand. Every time one of the remaining guards or Emma's parents got too close, Red issued a guttural warning growl that persisted until the offending individuals gave her more space. The brunette's room was beyond ruined, but Emma's own remained in tact, doors and all, and so she figured the best place to wait out the night would be behind closed doors rather than nerve-wracking steel bars. She shot her parents what she intended to be a reassuring look just before she disappeared down the hallway to her room.

Once inside, Emma quietly closed the doors as Red set about investigating the room. She'd seen it countless times as a human, but suddenly everything fascinated the werewolf's brain, even if it meant knocking over small tables and accidentally smashing lamps. The blonde settled in an open corner and situated herself so she could see out the window. Almost immediately, Red followed her to the location and Emma tensed, suddenly afraid again. Once again, the wolf surprised her when she simply laid on the floor next to her and placed her large head on the princess's lap.

"You're just scared, huh?" Emma purred softly, and Red's eyes closed once the blonde's hands fell on her head. Her hand moved over the dark fur in attempt to keep her calm, and after twenty minutes or so, those gold eyes slipped closed and the werewolf fell asleep.

As predicted, Red awoke the next morning and read the fatigue written across her lover's face in a heartbeat. Without a word, she crawled into the blonde's lap, buried her face in her neck and sobbed. They needed to find that cloak.


End file.
